Ready-made script
The discovery call
Five checkpoints, fifteen phrases, no order. Say any one of them anywhere in the call and that item ticks itself off.
This is what your recipient sees.
Discovery call
Who else has to say yes
must coverSay any one of:who elsesign offdecide
The people who are not on this call will still have an opinion when the invoice lands. Ask who has said no to something like this before. The name that comes back is the call you actually have to win.
What happens if they do nothing
must coverSay any one of:do nothinglive with itstay as you are
Usually "nothing much", and that is the real competitor: not another vendor, just the version of next quarter where nobody changed anything. Ask it plainly and let the answer be boring if it is boring.
What they have already tried
must coverSay any one of:already trieddidn't worklast time
Whatever they tried before is the shape of what they expect from you, and the reason they will hesitate. Find out what broke, and who wore it.
Money and timing
must coverSay any one of:budgetthis quarterwhat does it cost
Ask out loud, in the same tone as everything else. Late is worse than awkward, and a number you did not ask for is a number you will hear in six weeks from somebody who is not in this conversation.
Agree the next step
must coverSay any one of:next stepcalendarput time
A date and a name, said by them and not by you. If they will not say it out loud, you have just learned the most useful thing on the call.
Nothing happened? Then Tellie is not on this Mac yet. It is a free download, and this script will open straight into it once it is.